Son of a King
by That Dastard Cerberus
Summary: Shirou's life was literally burned away due to the aftermath of a terrible fire. However, his life is spared due to the action of one man. The boy now lives with this strange man, along with his adopted sister Illya. All Shirou wants from the man whom he calls his father is to be acknowledged as his son. But just how much does Shirou know his father?


**Title** : Son of a King

 **Author** : That Dastard Cerberus

 **Characters (central focus)** : Gilgamesh, Shirou, Illya, Enkidu

 **Pairings:** hints to Gilgamesh/Arturia, hints to Rin/Shirou

 **Rating** : T

 **Warnings for the reader:** What's in the plot. AU since the ending of Fate/zero has been altered. Also unreliable narrator.

 **Setting** : Between Fate/zero and Fate/stay night

 **Summary** : Shirou's life was literally burned away due to the aftermath of a terrible fire. However, his life is spared due to the action of one man. The boy now lives with this strange man, along with another man's daughter, Illya, who's father had passed away due to an illness. All Shirou wants from the man whom he calls his father is to be acknowledged as his son. But just how much does Shirou know his father? Who is this man named Lord Kayneth, who visits every so often? Just what goes on in Sakura's home? What is the deal with Tohsaka Rin, who seems to bare an unusual grudge against Shirou's father? Finding these answers will take everything he's got to answer them, but with the help of Illya and a talking bird who claims to be Shirou's familiar, he might finally get the answers, and the acknowledgement, he so desperately wants.

 **Genre:** Family, friendship, adventure, coming of age, mystery, supernatural

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Type Moon does. But if I did . . . well, let's just say some people would lose their sanity, while others would . . . erm . . . yeah.

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 _-::Son of a King::-_

 _-:Prologue – Shirou's POV - My Father, the King:-_

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My father is an amazing man. I say that a lot, but I mean it. I mean, once in class we had to write a paper about someone who we were proud of, and I wrote about my dad and why I thought he was so great. Corny, I know.

I guess, looking back, I might have overdone my description of my father, but he truly did deserve every ounce of praise I gave him. I didn't read the paper to him directly, though, because I was embarrassed over what he would think. Plus, there are a couple of other things that I need to keep in mind, such as his own view of me. Our relationship is pretty complicated, but I really don't mind a bit. After all, he watches over me like any father would, and he helps me when I ask for help, and—

He was the one who saved me.

It happened ten years ago, here in Fuyuki. I don't remember much, other than being hot, cold, tired, frightened, and alone all at the same time. I thought I was going to die that day, in the fire with the smell of burning corpses all around me. But then my father came.

My memories fade in and out for a bit, but I remember him picking me up and carrying me away from the hell that used to be my home. Next thing I know, I wake up in a hospital, and a man comes in and introduces himself. This man was Emiya Kiritsugu. He told me he was a magus and that he was adopting me. I guess I was so drugged with pain meds that the first question that came out of my mouth wasn't what a magus was but;

"Where's that golden haired man?"

Demanding to know where my rescuer was wasn't exactly strange, but it was kinda stupid to ask someone who just announced himself to be a magus. Then again, I never claimed myself to be smart.

Mr. Emiya looked confused as well, asking what I meant by "golden haired man." Of course, I didn't really understand much of it myself. I just… I just had this weird desire to know who this guy was.

What was that saying again? Ask and ye shall receive? Well, regardless, I certainly got my answer in the form of the very man who saved my life. The man who I would eventually regard as my father.

He was dismissive at first, only looking at me once before pretending I was no longer in the room. He and Mr. Emiya talked for a bit, something I don't remember anymore. I was honestly too busy gawking at the man to really listen to what he was saying. And just when he had finished speaking and was about to leave, I nearly fell out of bed, one desire just solely planted in my mind.

Don't leave me. Don't go. I need you. That was all I could focus on as he left the room.

Long story short, I eventually accepted Mr. Emiya's offer to be adopted, and with that, I found myself in the same car as the golden haired man. Mr. Emiya hesitantly introduced him as "Gilgamesh," and someone who will be staying with us. Mr. Emiya told me later on to just let Mr. Gilgamesh be and not interact with him, nor be bothered by him coming and going as he pleased.

I dunno how it happened. Maybe it was due to Mr. Emiya's declining health, or maybe it was due to my curiosity to get to know this mysterious man better, but I didn't listen to any of Mr. Emiya's advice. I followed Mr. Gilgamesh around, I probably bothered him a lot with questions over various topics, and I kept asking Mr. Emiya when Mr. Gilgamesh would be coming back when he did leave.

For some reason, I just never "accepted" Mr. Emiya as anything more than my legal guardian and host. Maybe it was due to my pursuit of my father, or maybe it happened when Illya, Mr. Emiya's biological daughter came into the picture.

She and I didn't get along at first. She was kinda bossy and very clingy to her own dad, and I guess because of that, I ended up wanting to be around Gilgamesh more and more. I was only a kid, and, in all honesty, I wanted a dad to look after me too, like how Mr. Emiya was with Illya. It wasn't like Mr. Emiya didn't try to be a father figure to me either. I just… attached myself to Mr. Gilgamesh. And just like that, one day "Mr. Gilgamesh" became my father, or "Dad," as I referred to him in most cases. Not that he ever knew. Again, our relationship is complicated.

Illya always made fun of me because of this, but I always called Dad "sir," or "Gilgamesh-san," in his presence. I get why, though. How can I consider this man my father when I never call him that to his face. The thing was… I think he doesn't think of me as his son.

Painful, I know, but it's not I can do anything about it. I'm… not exactly great son material. I do my best in everything I can, but I just could never really get Dad to praise or take much interest in the stuff I did. But you know what? That's fine.

My dad has been taking care of me and Illya since Mr. Emiya passed away two years ago. He interacts with me and Illya more often and gives me loads of advice whenever I ask him a question. He even helped me with some history and language homework a couple of times.

Still, I had no idea, in the coming winter, something would happen. Something big that not only put into question the truth that I knew at the time, but also my own dad's opinion of, well, everything.


End file.
